R60e IPS upgrade question

[astral]

I've got a crappy celeron R60e that's not worth upgrading - except - I can get an IPS screen that should be compatible for under $20. 1400x1050 15".
I just wanted to see if someone here could confirm this should work.
I know any T60 15" screen will work in an R60e already. The T60 IPS panels are all insanely expensive. The part number N150P3-L01 from IDTech is really cheap - under $20. This is an IPS 1400x1050 panel and it shipped in the R50, R51, T42, and T43 according to ThinkWiki. I checked in panelook and the specs seem to match perfectly with the T60 IPS panels and the stock R60e panel (30 pin LVDS, CCFL) so I don't see any reason why the swap wouldn't work - can anyone confirm whether this should be possible?

[ZaZ]

Yes, this will work, but be advised if you decide that the panel looks great and you want to spend money upgrading the R60e after all, the Celeron R60e won't accept any other CPUs due to it using a different chipset. You'd need to swap the motherboard as well.

[axur-delmeria]

Check the LCD cable FRU on your unit and compare it to the HMM parts listing. If you're lucky, the XGA and SXGA+ LCD cables are the same.

[astral]

Yes, this will work, but be advised if you decide that the panel looks great and you want to spend money upgrading the R60e after all, the Celeron R60e won't accept any other CPUs due to it using a different chipset. You'd need to swap the motherboard as well.

Yeeeeeep, that’s the problem. I’d actually consider upgrading it further if the board wasn’t locked to celeron only. My thinking is that by getting the IPS panel now, I can always swap it into a T60 or 4:3 T61 in the future should I end up with one.

Cable on these laptops is universal thankfully.

[TPFanatic]

Those 15” sxga feel dim to me (dimmer than XGA) and then there’s the annoying jaundice the lg panels develop. Curious if the r60e celery can take a fast pentium M? I have a 2.26 dothan doing me no good, could basically make an R50 that doesn’t desolder itself if the swap is possible.

[axur-delmeria]

Those 15” sxga feel dim to me (dimmer than XGA) and then there’s the annoying jaundice the lg panels develop.

Polarizer yellowing, or backlight ? Maybe a LED backlight mod ?

Curious if the r60e celery can take a fast pentium M? I have a 2.26 dothan doing me no good, could basically make an R50 that doesn’t desolder itself if the swap is possible.

Pentium M's are out of the question, because IIRC the R60e is Socket M, just like the regular R60 and T60.
That said, is the R60e's chipset limited to 533MHz FSB or something, that's why Core Duos and Core 2 Duos don't work? If that's the case, then a Pentium Dual-Core T2130 (1.86GHz) should work, as its FSB is 533MHz. But if its chipset also disabled multi-core support, then the Core Solo T1350 (1.86GHz) is probably the fastest processor it can be upgraded to.

[TPFanatic]

My r500 came to me with a 667 fsb celeron 575, now it has a t9400.

[ZaZ]

The R60 and R60e with Core CPUs use the 945GM chipset while the R60 and R60e with Celerons come with the 940GML chipset that don't play nice with the Core CPUs. The R500 all use the same chipset, which makes swapping CPUs more agreeable.

If I recall correctly and I may not as it's been a while so things are a little fuzzy, but the SXGA+ screens tended to be a bit warmer than their UXGA cousins, but fade and yellow more quickly.

I would suggest rather than putting the screen into A T60/T61, installing a R61 board into the R60 and making a rarer Frankenpad. Like the T61 it'll get you up to 8GB, unlike the Celeron R60e that is limited to 2GB.

[astral]

the rest of this thing is thrashed so it isn't worth putting money into. In order to make it into a nice system I'd actually use often, I'd have to replace the screen, palmrest, motherboard, probably the heatsink along with that, the keyboard, and by that point it would be far cheaper to just buy a T60 or even just an R60 that's higher end. I'm definitely going to buy a T60 or 4:3 T61 in the future as with me just having gotten a 600X, it's the last of the 4:3 T-Series I need to complete the set so to speak.
The only reason I'm looking at the IPS screen is because it's so darn cheap and it would make there be a point to using this thing. And yes, I could sell it, but the only reason I'm keeping it is because it's sentimental. It was my first ThinkPad, and it was given to me a friend from many years back that I don't get to speak to often anymore.
Knowing myself, I may just put the money in anyway at some point. Ship of theseus comes into play, but it would still be neat to upgrade this sentimental system into something worth using. don't know.

[TPFanatic]

T60 is a nice laptop, nicer materials than the totally plastic R60. The thing with T60 is a lot of them had the SXGA from the get-go, so you likely wouldn't need to get a new one unless the one originally equipped is severely worn out. The SXGAs are indeed very cheap but I would encourage taking the plunge for a UXGA, I think it does more to fully appreciate the 15" form factor. I just refurbed three T60s and each one needed the fans relubricated, it's a very easy job as the fan is held into the heatsink with only 4 metal tabs, you can bend them back with a blade and then articulate the fan out of the heatsink hinged on the foil tape. I used WD40 Silicone spray to get the fans running silent and effective.

[astral]

I still have to decide which T60 I’m going to pick up. I really like the 14” form factor, and it would match better with the rest of my fleet so I’m leaning that way right now. Of course that means no IPS.
I could always get both but that would mean one would inevitably become less used. Still not sure.

[dr_st]

See if some of my threads will help you decide between the 14" and 15" T60 systems. I've owned both at one point:
14″/15″ 4:3 T60 – indepth comparison with pictures
T60 14" vs 15" LCDs from various angles